In the annals of American history, the famous photo taken by Pete Souza of President Barack Obama and his national security team monitoring 'Operation Neptune's Spear'–the Navy SEALs raid that killed Osama bin Laden– has achieved icon status. Splashed across newspapers and television screens across the world, the tension in the room seemed palpable to all who saw it. But an interesting footnote to the famous photo is that it was not taken in the actual Situation Room at the White House.

As CNN Terrorism Analyst Peter Bergen reports in his new book "Manhunt," about the decade long search for bin Laden, the room where the photo was taken is actually a smaller room adjoined to the larger Situation Room. Like the Situation Room, the smaller room has secure video and phone communications, but it has a table that can only accommodate seven people Bergen writes, as opposed to the larger table next door which can seat more than a dozen.

Brigadier General Marshall "Brad" Webb, assistant commanding general of Joint Special Operations Command who sits in the center of the famous photo, was monitoring the operation on a screen through a laptop computer. Michael Leiter, then director of the National Counterterrorism Center, went into the room to watch the feed that was being relayed from a secret drone. Secretaries Clinton, Gates, and Vice President Biden soon followed. Moments later Bergen reports, the president walked in and said, "I need to watch this," as he seated himself next to Webb.

In the days and months that followed, many of the people in the room have reflected on that crucial time in U.S. history, what it meant to them, and what they were thinking.President Barack Obama:
In a recent interview with NBC News, Obama said he thinks the photo was taken at about the time the helicopter went down.

In the days after the raid, Obama told CBS's 60 Minutes that the raid was "the longest 40 minutes" of his life with the possible exception of when his younger daughter Sasha became sick with meningitis when she was three months old.

When they received word the helicopters carrying the Navy SEALs and the bin Laden body had left Pakistani airspace, the first person Obama called was his immediate predecessor, former President George W. Bush to inform him of the operation. Obama also called former President Bill Clinton that evening as well.

Vice President Joe Biden:

Vice President Joe Biden was opposed to going forward with the raid all the way up to the point when Obama made the decision to proceed. In remarks to House Democrats at their annual retreat earlier this year, Biden recalled the final moments before the commander-in-chief made his decision. Obama went around the table of his senior national security team to get their thoughts on whether the operation should go forward.

"He got to me. He said Joe what do you think," Biden recalled. "I said, we owe the man a direct answer. Mr. President, my suggestion is, don't go. We have to do two more things to see if he's there."

Biden told an audience in New York last week that Obama's decision to ultimately go ahead with decision shows the president has a "backbone like a ramrod."

Anthony Blinken – National Security Advisor to Vice President Biden:

On the morning of April 29, President Obama gathered with Tom Donilon, his national security adviser, White House Chief of Staff William Daley, Deputy National Security Advisor Denis McDonough, and his counterterrorism adviser, John Brennan, and told the men he had made the decision to go forward with the operation. Anthony Blinken, Biden's national security adviser heard the news shortly thereafter.

In an interview with Bergen, Blinken was somewhat surprised of the decision.

"I thought, 'Man, that is a gutsy call," Blinken told Bergen. "First, we don't know for sure bin Laden is there; the evidence is circumstantial. Second, most of his senior advisors recommended a different course of action."

Obama's presidency and the lessons of history also hung in the balance Blinken thought.

"Leaving that meeting, I think a lot of people had visions of Jimmy Carter in their heads," Blinken told Bergen in reference to the failed attempt by the Carter administration in 1980 to rescue the Americans held hostage at the U.S. embassy in Iran.

John Brennan – Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism:

White House counter-terrorism adviser John Brennan recently told an audience at NYPD headquarters in New York that once Obama made the "gutsy call" to approve the mission, "the minutes passed like hours and days."

When an NYPD official asked Brennan what it was like to be at the White House that evening, Brennan said there "wasn't a sense of exuberance, there were no high fives," he said. "People let out a breath. It was a moment of reflection. This was something we'd all worked toward for a long time."

Brennan recalled leaving the White House at 1:30am and passing by Lafayette Park, where many people had gathered and were chanting, "USA, USA." Brennan said he was hit by a wave of emotion. "I had goose bumps," he said.

James Clapper – Director of National Intelligence: Clapper told Security Clearance "the tension in the air was palpable" particularly when the helicopter encountered its problem. "There was a lot of tension, and then as it became clear that we were reasonably sure that yes, it was Usama bin Laden, there was, if I can use the phrase, not only emotional closure, but functional closure in that operation illustrated the effectiveness of what an integrated intelligence and operational community could accomplish," he said.

Clapper told Security Clearance he walked with the President through the Rose Garden on their way to the East Room where Obama addressed the nation. It was the first time they had been outdoors for 12 hours, and they could hear the crowds in Lafayette Park. "It was then that it hit me what a momentous event this was, and I'll not forget that" Clapper said.

"It is hard for me to recall a single vignette that carried with it so much importance, and so much symbolism for this country," Clapper said. "As an intelligence professional that has spent 50 years in the business, I cannot remember an event that would approach that raid and its success in my memory."

Hillary Clinton – Secretary of State:

For Secretary Clinton, who was a U.S. Senator from New York on 9/11, the operation provided a sense of closure to her she said recently in an address at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis. "We did our very best to try to give the president our honest assessment, and ultimately you know it was his decision which I fully supported because I believed that we had to take the risk and it was a risk."

"It was a pretty intense, tense, stressful time because the people who were actually doing it on the ground were thousands of miles away," she said. "I'm not sure anyone breathed for you know 35 or 37 minutes."

"I wasn't even aware people were taking pictures, the White House photographer obviously was, but you were just so concentrating on what you could see and you could hear. We could see or hear nothing when [the SEALs] went into the house. There was no communication or feedback coming so it was during that time period everyone was particularly focused on just trying to keep calm and keep prepared as to what would happen," Clinton said.

William Daley – White House Chief of Staff:

President Obama's former chief of staff might have come closest to tipping off the press that something monumental was in the works before Obama made his historic address to the nation.

That Saturday evening, Obama, Daley, and many other senior administration officials were attending the annual White House Correspondents Association dinner in Washington. George Stephanopoulos of ABC News had heard from someone that the White House had uncharacteristically closed itself to public tours the next morning. "You guys have something big going on over there?" Bergen writes of Stephanopoulos's surprising query to Daley. "Oh no. It's just a plumbing issue," Daley said, seemingly ending the newsman's curiosity.

In an address to a conference of public relations executives in Chicago last week, Daley called that night of the operation at the White House the "biggest moment of my life in a professional sense."

Tom Donilon – National Security Adviser:

"Well, obviously we're thinking about the successful and safe completion of the mission," Donilon told CNN's Candy Crowley a week after the raid. "That was first and foremost in everybody's mind as we were monitoring the mission as it was ongoing."

"You know, as I look at the picture now though, and focus in on the president, having served three presidents," Donilon told Crowley, "you really are struck by these being quintessentially presidential decisions, and you see it in new experiences that you have."

For Donilon, who watched the president receive divided opinions from his advisers on whether to go forward with the mission, "that's what strikes me now, looking at the president, is that we ask our presidents to make these exceedingly difficult decisions," Donilon said. "And at the end of the day, 300 million Americans are looking to him to make the right decision."

Robert Gates – Secretary of Defense:

Gates, who was the only hold over in Obama's cabinet from the previous administration, said for him, the most difficult moment for him that evening was when one of the Blackhawk helicopters carrying a Navy SEALs team crashed in the courtyard of the bin Laden compound.

Like Biden, he was opposed to the operation involving the SEALs. Gates, who spent a majority of his career at the C.I.A. and was the intelligence liaison at the White House in 1980 during the failed attempt to rescue the American hostages held in Iran, advocated for a much larger operation.

"Well, I think like the rest, I was just transfixed," Gates told CBS's 60 Minutes last year. "And of course, my heart went to my mouth when the helicopter landed in the courtyard, 'cause I knew that wasn't part of the plan. But these guys were just amazing."

Admiral Mike Mullen – Chairman of the Joint Chiefs:

For Mullen, there was also a concern about whether the White House would interfere after the helicopter went down.

Mullen told Bergen his biggest concern "was that someone at the White House would reach in and start micromanaging the mission. It is potentially the great disadvantage about technology that we have these days," he said. "And I was going to put my body in the way of trying to stop that. Obviously, there was one person I couldn't stop doing that, and that was the president."

Audry Tomason – National Counterterrorism Center:

CNN reached out to Audrey Tomason to get her reflections of that evening, but she was unavailable for comment.

Webb was the senior officer in the room from Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). The commanding officer of JSOC, Admiral William McRaven, briefed the officials on the operation from his position in Afghanistan. Webb declined to comment to CNN about his role in the operation, or his reflections of the evening.

Denis McDonough – Deputy National Security Advisor:

"I think what strikes me about the picture more than anything is the fact that it speaks to the teamwork that was emblematic," McDonough told CNN's Wolf Blitzer the day after the operation. "The broader teamwork from the IAC, the intelligence community, from the military, from our diplomats, to make sure that this happened in the successful way that it did."

Leon Panetta – Central Intelligence Agency Director:

Panetta, who at that point was the Director of the C.I.A. at the agency headquarters in Langley, VA that evening, but was communicating with Obama and his team via a video link. The Title 50 operation called for the C.I.A. to have operational control, so everyone at the White House was listening to Panetta narrate what was happening.

"There were a number of tense moments going through the operation," now Defense Secretary Panetta said on his way back to the United States from South America last week. "Just the fact that having these helicopters going 150 miles into Pakistan, and the concern about whether or not they would be detected." When one of the helicopters went down at the compound, Panetta said it was "pretty nerve-wracking for a lot of us that, you know, trying to figure out what happens now."

When they received confirmation from the SEAL team that they had killed bin Laden, Panetta said there was a "huge sigh of relief by everybody involved." But with a disabled helicopter down at the compound, it had to be destroyed by members of the team before they were able to leave Pakistani territory. "And so there was a lot of concern about the ability to get everybody back to Afghanistan," Panetta said. "But we were able to do that, and it was at that point that I think everybody kind of looked at everybody and said, 'mission accomplished."

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What could be more ironic than Obama using Bill Clinton, the guy who had the opportunity to get Bin Laden THREE TIMES and came up with Eric Holder type reasons not to do it, for a video that talks about how Obama made the "honorable: choice. Was Clinton giving a mea culpa?

Clinton had plans to go to war in Afghanistan and get Bin Ladin, but the right wing influence in D.C. at the time blocked it. At least he didn't say "he's swatting at flies" – like G.W. did, then 8 months later look what happened. I recommend you read Richard Clark's testimony to the 911 commission and get your facts right. He harder than any right wnger did.

Question: Which would have been more "gutsy": (1) giving the SEALS the okay to go in to get Bin Laden; or, (2) telling the SEALS "no" and taking the chance his decision would get out and it would be known that he, like Bill Clinton, had the chance to kill Bin Laden and didn't do it?

The Re-Killing Of Seal Team Six
By Joel Skousen, editor
World Affairs Brief.com
5-3-12

With Obama revelling in the death of Osama bin Laden a year ago, a review of how the government pulled off this propaganda stunt is in order. CT Campbell provided a short review of the implausible US version of events:

"A review of the problems with the story is simply incredible. The lack of any tangible evidence, the massive changes to the official story that came out in the days immediately following the raid all add up to something being very wrong. No Shootout, no wives used as human shields, no wives or children taken into custody have been produced, no video of the raid, the White House did not watch the raid live as originally indicated. Now, as many predicted, the people we are told took part in the raid are all gone as a result of a recent helicopter crash. We were then told the UBL [Usama Bin Laden] body was immediately buried at sea and we have almost instantaneous DNA results that it was him.. No pictures of UBL's body are released, under the excuse they would instill hatred for America. Not only do we see no UBL body, we see no captive wives or children, we have no seal team members to give their accounts in disguises to conceal their identity and never will after the recent helicopter crash in Afghanistan. In the days that follow, we do get some photos of the people we are told were killed inside the residence."

Now there exists much more specific witness testimony that directly contradicts the US version of events, and provides new evidence of what happened to Seal Team Six, lauded for carrying out this alleged death raid. Paul Craig Roberts brought to the attention of the world an important Pakistani National TV interview with Muhammad Bashir, who lives next door to the alleged compound of Osama bin Laden.

"In Bashir's account, every member of the landing party and anyone brought from the house died when the helicopter exploded on lift-off. This provides a very different version of events than what the media parroted from Pentagon reports. Here are the key points Bashir made in the interview [all key statements put in chronological order and edited for brevity]:

Muhammad Bashir: The events that happened are thus; we were awake, we were not asleep.

Reporter: Where were you standing when this happened?

Muhammad Bashir: Inside the house, on top of the roof, I was not in the house, just on top of the (flat) roof, lying down on the roof, lying and watching this and what was happening. A Helicopter came, and circled and dropped some people there... after that, the helicopter returned and went back.

Reporter: How many people were they?

Muhammad Bashir: They were ten, twelve people. After that it left and for approximately 20 minutes, there behind us, on those mountains, it kept going around, the top of the mountains. After 20 minutes, it returned. When it returned, at that time there were TWO more helicopters arrived but didn't land. One came from the West and one came from the North.

Reporter: There was only ONE helicopter?

Muhammad Bashir: Only ONE helicopter, that dropped its passengers.... The people who were dropped from the craft... That walkway...that...where our gates are...they banged them hard...and shouted...don't come out...don't do this, don't do that, if you come out you will be shot..we will do this, we will do that, all the people who were dropped, all of them spoke Pashtu (Afgahni Language) – Pashtun!

Reporter: Who were these people?

Muhammad Bashir: This I do not know! Those who were dropped from the craft (helicopter), those people.

Reporter: somebody else told me - that they spoke Pashtu.

Muhammad Bashir: They WERE Pashtun! we do not know if they were working for the Americans, we do not know if they were working for Pakistan, we do not know if they were army people or civilian, what people, BUT they SPOKE PASHTU!, [Later Bashir hypothesizes that they could be Americans speaking Pashtu: "agents can speak all sorts of languages. It could be that it is the American army and they could speak Pashtu and the people would think that it is our own people."] The SAME [helo] returned to pick the people and there was an explosion within it. ONE helicopter landed down here, the second helicopter came from above and went towards Mansera. It did not land. No second helicopter landed! When it [the first helo] approached for landing, there was an explosion within it and there was fire within it, immediately, we came out... the helicopter was on fire, it was burning. They are saying we killed Osama here. After that, they picked him up and took him away. – how did they do this? This, what we are thinking [since witnesses saw the only Helo that landed explode and burn!].

Reporter: How did you get inside? (the compound)

Muhammad Bashir: the gate was open, when there was fire, the gate was open [doesn't sound like a secure compound for Osama].

Reporter: You came from upstairs to downstairs?

Muhammad Bashir: I came down, from my own house into the gulley [Gulley is (in Urdu) a sidewalk or pavement between two houses], I didn't go alone inside the other house, 200 other people went inside! Everybody saw it!

Muhammad Bashir: We saw dead people... This, we could not count, within the compound there was fire. The gate was open, we entered the gate, at that time the Army had not arrived. When the helicopter exploded, it scattered everywhere, one piece fell over there, one fell here, one here, a lot of pieces fell in the gulley outside, they reached up to the gulley and our house and also some pieces managed to reach onto my roof. so, the area of the open space there (in front of the house) is about four Kanal in size. It is a very large compound. You cannot see all of it from one location. After that, about twenty minutes later the Army arrived, the police arrived. They moved all of us back... when the army arrived, they moved all the people back. Move aside, move aside! So we moved aside. Then they closed the area down.

Reporter: Tell me; two helicopters came, lifted and took the rest of the people?

Muhammad Bashir: No - they did not take the rest of the people, because they did not even land, One came from the West and it left towards the North, the one that came from the North, left towards the South. They did not land!

Muhammad Bashir: He was with me, but I did not notice when he was picked up.

Reporter: Has he returned yet?

Muhammad Bashir: Yes, he has returned. They picked him up and took him away.

Reporter: What is he saying?

Muhammad Bashir: I have not met him yet, he is at home they will not let him come out, we are not allowed to visit him, they will not let him come out. [End]

Paul Craig Roberts comments: "Bashir's cousin is the person who, according to the reporter had a vegetable garden inside the wall of the alleged bin Laden compound. Is it likely that with a hunted and dangerous person hiding within, locals would be permitted to have vegetable gardens inside the compound?

"Readers can arrive at their own conclusions. It seems clear that under intense pressure and serious threats from the US government, the Pakistani government fell in line with the US government's claim that a commando raid had killed bin Laden and all had returned safely, and that the TV news organization also got the message to get in line.

"It is likely that the many witnesses who observed the dead from the helicopter crash have been warned to keep quiet. However, a news organization, should one be so inclined, could certainly interview Bashir and the 200 others who saw the dead bodies.... I am confident that no news organization believes that it could confront such an important US national myth in this way. OBL's death will remain one of those many 'truths' that rest on nothing but the government's word."

I find particularly disturbing Bashir's comments about the inserted team speaking fluent Pashtu. Navy Seals are not linguists, as agents may be. They may be trained with a considerable vocabulary or phrases but hardly enough to pass off as native speakers to another native. The whole story about this being a CIA operation which was secret from the Pakistani army is blown wide open by this testimony. It is obvious that a lot of people in Abbottabad and in the Pakistani army know that the US story is totally fabricated–but they are being silenced.

Is There a Link to Recent Deaths of the Same Navy Seal Team? There are some strange contradictions in the highly publicized crash of an Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter in Afghanistan that supposedly included the very members of Seal Team 6 that allegedly captured and killed Osama bin Laden. How convenient.

1) If, as Mr. Bashir has testified, no Navy SEALs survived the special ops helo crash in Abbottabad, the government would need to falsify their deaths later in order to be able to explain to the Seal Team families why their hero husbands were never coming home.

2) It would also mean that Obama's visit to Fort Campbell, Ky did not occur in front of the actual Seal Team Six, but their larger unit. The fact that Obama showed up with cameras rolling at the return of the bodies from the recent crash indicates that this is a continuation of the big lie.

3) Seal Team Six has its own special ops stealth helicopters and doesn't normally fly on Army choppers. Why was this SEAL Team inserted onto an Army reserve transport helicopter and mixed with other military operations? Was this story a fabrication too?

4). The US government claims it has killed the two who shot down the CH-47. I'd like to know just how you could know that unless you were controlling that shoot down operation. That shows that either they are lying or complicity. Either one is bad.

5) The government is already changing its story about who was on the doomed helicopter. According to CNN, "The Pentagon will put the death toll of Navy Seals in last weekend's downing of a helicopter in Afghanistan at 17, [instead of 22]. Officials say further information that has come in also indicates that not all of the SEALs were assigned to a top-secret Naval unit as they originally said. [Only] 15 were SEALs belonging to the top-secret unit that conducted the raid on Osama Bin Laden's compound in Pakistan. Two others were SEALs assigned to a regular Naval special operations unit. Five additional Navy personnel were so-called conventional forces with particular specialties who regularly worked with the SEALs. One official said that included a dog handler and some communications specialists. The other eight U.S. troops killed were three Air Force forward air controllers and five Army helicopter crew members. Multiple military officials had said for days there were 22 SEALs among the dead, and all were members of the same overall unit that killed Bin Laden."

Let me tell you as a former military pilot that there is written manifest for every flight containing the names of every person on board when setting out from a regular base of operations. There is no way the military could have been "confused" about who was on board. Someone is scrambling to coordinate whoever is supposed to be dead from those who are not dead.

Here's a partial analysis from Infowars.com: "The government admits that a super secret helicopter did crash during the OBL raid but says no one died; our intel is different. We predicted that the spin doctors would stage a crash or when a real crash took place that they would say the SEALs died then. This is a old trick that governments all over the world have been caught pulling in the past.

"Mainstream sources are seizing upon claims that the Taliban took credit for downing the helicopter, but that means nothing. Media instantly ran reports that al Qaeda was responsible for the bombing & shootings in Norway; moreover, anyone on a message board can make such claims."

CT Campbell concludes, "We may never know the true story. If I were to guess, someone got off a lucky shot against the helicopter or there was an accidental explosion of ordinance onboard. Since this whole thing IMO was designed to boost Obama's declining ratings and status, they could not come out with the truth that it had ended in a colossal mess. The recent crash of the helicopter in Afghanistan may have been staged to provide a cover story and give closure and release of bodies for people killed months ago. It might also have been used to eliminate any witnesses who survived the debacle."

Obama doesn't even have to mention the triumph. That was a GREAT day that was too long in coming. Thanks to the President and the entire organization that took that SOB out. Nobody is going to forget on whose watch OBL ceased to be.

Right on! Do the republicants really expect voters will forget the pathetic photo shoot of Bush and his "Mission Accomplished" banner. "W" was never good enough to solo a plane. "W" shows up in a costume meant to portray him as a fighter pilot (he never was). Bush was a coward that did all he could to avoid Vietnam.
If the party of NO wants to see excessive celebration just watch all the grandstanding done by Bush.

Yeah. Well put: "on whose watch". Watch was the extent of what he did. He had been told TEN MONTHS EARLIER that Bin Laden was in the compound and he dithered for TEN MONTHS before finally relenting and letting the SEALS do their job.

You are obviously dillusional reagan80. Perhaps you could sign up for a modern history class. Many high schools offer adult education classes. For the present might I suggest that you watch and listen to both sides. Listening to Fox and lLmbaugh exclusively only shows your ignorance. Educate, then talk.

May 1, 2012 at 8:54 pm |

gregor1971

Obama didn't have a chance to change out of his golf clothes. He was literally pulled off of the golf course by the call that they had OBL holed up and were ready to take him out. How ironic

You obviously know nothing about the mission and how it was planned. The objective is to carry on as normal, just like he did at the dinner, the night before. You arouse suspicion and the lives of those men could have been compromised.

You say Bush and the republicans handed him to Obama? That is hiliarious! Bin Ladin could have been hiding under Jrs. bed and he wouldn't have known it. It took a lot of work on the part of the navy seals and it was a jugh decision for Obama to make to strike this compound. What if this had not been Bin Ladins but someone elses, what kind of repercurations would our country have had to deal with. He made a big decision that could have resulted either way. Romney is just blowing steam out his backside. Would he have had the courage to make this kind of decision? I doubt it.

OBAMA keeps trying to convince us that the way Mitt Romney spends HIS money, is more important than how Obama spends OUR money ... while Michelle squanders a half a million dollars in five days, on just ONE of her many vacations, and, Obama squanders 5 TRILLION dollars of OUR money ... and, he still wants to spend more !!!

Obama is very wise to use bin Laden as an example of decisive actions in efficient logic that makes a real difference, getting Saddam Hussein was an example of incompetency and inefficiency. The Republicans don't want to take any responsibilty for Bush's White House and want to pretend they are some new entity, they aren't. I didn't vote for Obama but I really like him a lot more than what the GOP has shown in my 30+ plus years, and I am not a Democrat either.

The military got the job done and there is no need for any side to gloat about it. Ironic how the left now is all about justice. Where are all the truthers on this one? CNN loved reporting about the truthers when GW was in office, now its a moral and just killing. The left and the media in this country are just disgusting and have no moral compass whatsoever.

It's "you're" - please tell me you haven't finished high school. And with the partisanship in this country either side's president in office would be crucified for acting, not acting, acting too fast, acting too slowly. It doesn't matter if he woke up and had orange juice while reading the paper today. 45% of the country thinks he's made a mistake already. You can't reason with a good 90% of the country. And rest of us just want to smack all of you. 🙂 Have a nice day.

May 1, 2012 at 5:27 pm |

40acres

I don't seem to recall the cry from the right when Bush was using the 911 tragedy for political gain (nor do I remember any whining from the left). As I recall he (or a PAC) had a campaign ad that showed him with his bullhorn on the rubble.

May 1, 2012 at 5:35 pm |

REY

I think Mitt is a great canidate.... its just that he has these 2 problems; his face.

Romney would not have made the same call on this with the information given. He would have needed financial statements of OBL and in depth analysis of the profit margin v. political fallout should the mission not go as planned. Romney would have first attempted to fire OBL or at least have his job outsourced to a country with cheaper labor costs. If he could have just cut his hours down to where he would not have to pay him any benefits that may have satisfied his cost to labor ratio... meanwhile OBL rebuilds Al Queda and sails a battlship into JFK Airport.
And that would definitely be Obama's fault.
I have this ALL figured out.

Even al-Qaeda can admit he is dead without controversy, and they are pathological liars. What does that make you?

May 1, 2012 at 5:23 pm |

PJ

It is disappointing to Romney only because it brings attention to his 2007 comment when he said he would not spend the money to go after one man. Obama knew that to kill the snake you need to cut off the head. Shame on Romney.

Yeah and he did just like he promised he would do. Seems to me he doesn't play around does he.

May 1, 2012 at 5:22 pm |

MattC

9 years of parading 9/11 as an excuse to keep defense spending ridiculously high and bury this country's infrastructure in the name of the "war on terror", but kill the guy that everyone blames for it (not, note you, America's foreign policy in the middle east, it was all OBL right?) and these monkeys are calling the administration out on "politicizing" something? I'd laugh it weren't the sad state were in.

How pathetic are those Republicans.The only foriegn policy experiance that looser Romney has was to ship jobs overseaes.Cheney/Bush had 8 years to get rid of bin ladin and couldnt do it.So now they want to lie and misrepresent and try to convince us that Romney is the leader to trust.These guys are a total joke.If Cheney/bush had captured him ,they would be flying the flags and shouting from the roof tops like they did when that looser King George declared Mission Accomplished.Most people in this country are laughing at the Republicans .

Hey liberals, please execuse the teapugs for their hateful and divisive comments! They're envious and jealous of our President for his bold, effective, and courageous leadership! But don't worry teapugs, there's a remedy for what's ailing you! Kool-Aid!

Romney is a clown. False outrage, etc notwithstanding, the GOP seem to LOOK for a reason to disagree with Obama, even when he uses policies the GOP invented in the first place! It must be super uncool to the GOP to ever catch themselves nodding in agreement with the President. In any case, that tool Romney doesn't have a prayer of winning. He's so fake, he makes plastic look legit.

Romney is not clown. You may want Obama for another term, but Romney is a much more qualified leader than Obama is at this time.

Romney is well liked by those that meet him, worked with him and know him. People from his past come forward all the time. Where is Obama's past? I don't hear former students or roommates saying what a great guy he is. It's weird that all we know is these last few years... which have been weak.

I"m sure Mitten's is a like-able, personable guy. He'd need to be – going into vulture capitalism, breaking down companies, selling off their assets and outsourcing the labor.Then investing the proceeds in offshore acct and only getting cap gains tax rates. Sure.. like-able. His problem is (and will be) that like the Grand Obstructionist Party, no has no platform, flip-flops on every issue, and will tell you what you want to hear – all to get elected. He is so out of touch with the American public that he relies on his "never worked a day in her life" wife Ann for economic advice. Seriously?
Add to that all the ex-Bush advisors he's loaded up on, he is really not a viable candidate. And Obama is already the POTUS. He doesn't need folks coming forward saying what a great guy he is. This isn't the college debate team, or roommate sweepstakes dude.

May 1, 2012 at 3:47 pm |

Neil 49

Name one.

May 1, 2012 at 4:10 pm |

tlm

Really? That is your idea of a president? Wow.....is this for real?

May 1, 2012 at 4:18 pm |

Steve

Dear Neil, I suggest yo use google then you can find facts. You asked for just one so I give you DDI Corporation,

May 1, 2012 at 4:57 pm |

InTruth23

Oh Obama has lead 25 consecutive months of of solid economic growth. of which all Ronmey can say is that it has not been fast enough. Yeah right after the worst economic turn down since the great depression of which republicans are responsible for.

May 1, 2012 at 5:26 pm |

Wow

Im such a fool. I thought that the comment section would be filled with people who were just happy to have killed the boogey man. I forgot that we had to be DIVIDED in everything.

This nation is a nation divided. There is no recourse, no solution, no fix. The right and the left will hound the middle until there is nothing left there to hound. and the middle is the worst problem of all. Right, wrong or indifferent, make a stand America. Oh, and quit whining about EVERYTHING!

It is amazing how all the pro Romney mouth pieces are just like their mentor ! CLUELESS !!
How can a man who wants to become the President of one of the most powerful countries of the world stoop to such low levels as to day in and day out insult the incmbent as has never been before and most recently insulted a very distinguished and former President in Jimmy Carter !
I think this man is unfit to hold the office of which he aspires if by his very behaviour tarnish the reputation of said office.
What would power-house states like Russia and China do if he achieves this office ? after all the negative remarks about said countries.
In my opinion he is surrounded by too many Yes Men who are too afraid to remind him that he might have to do business with these very people if ( and God help America ) he becomes President.

All Obama wants if for all you rich people to pay your share. I'd do it if I was you or soon your gonna have the 99% coming up in your home and taking it. This occupy movement can get ugly quick. Needless to say we've had enough!

I all somewhere in the middle class. I work my tail off (40+ hours a week) and earn every penny I make, then I pay more than my fair share of taxes. There's no free lunch in this life. Most of the 'rich' worked for what they have, and some day I hope to get there. A small percent of the wealthy may have just gotten lucky or inherited what they have, but the free-loaders protesting for a hand out are no better. So to all the Occupiers out there, quit your griping, take a shower, and go look for a job.

@Rich – typical attitude. Most of the 99% are NOT looking for the proverbial handout, tho' there are always those who abuse the system. That applies to the 1% too BTW. I'm like you.. not wealthy. Comfortable, and work at least 40+ hrs a week to support my family. I'm not wealthy enough to make much on investments, and certainly don't make a living from cap gains like many of the 1% do. I pay MORE as a percentage of my taxes than they do. If the Robmey/Ryan plans is implemented, those paying a marginal rate of 15% (cap gains) would pay nothing.
I think they should pay their fair share, and no MOST did not earn it. MANY inherited it, or have wealthy parents. We have the lowest upper tax rate in over 100 yrs. Historically, high taxes have led to higher GDP and higher growth – not the opposite. Look it up~!

May 1, 2012 at 2:55 pm |

Rich

Going after bin Laden was hardly the gutsy move people on the left are trying to make this out to be, but a no-brainer. The story had already leaked that he was cornered, if and president had decided not to go through with the raid, then it would have burned him politically. I get a kick out of the photo. They all look like a bunch of scared rabbits!

The no brainer was the nurse trying to remove you from the incubator when you were born to throw you in a dumpster just before the f-ing doctor walked back in the f-ing room! Inferior confederate redneck!

Rich you are an idiot! There was NO LEAK! Where do you rummies form FOX dream this sh it up! Face it! Obama made a gutsy move that no president on the right has dared to make. Well except for Bush getting us into a usless war on false pretenses that killed needlessly thousands of our troops for no real gain.

Hey rich, there were alot of people in that room that are far smarter and far braver than you could ever hope to be and the quotes from all of them say it was a gutsy call and the right call. It is unlikely that Romney would have made the same call since he has been trained to be risk averse.

By the way, that "scared rabbit" look is concern for some of our very best and bravest men in harms way. You wouldn't know anything about that would you?

Please leave our President alone. He is a good guy doing a good job. Listen you can either pay your fair share of taxes or we will take our share. This occupy movement might get outta hand if all the rich peoples don't start paying up.

Agree 100%. In addition, our whining corporations who are making more $ than ever, but paying less than most of us need to pay their fair share. They should be included in the Buffet Rule – pay at least 30% – not 0% like GE and 9% like Apple. They are American traitors.

"EPA Region 6 Administrator Al Armendariz has resigned just days after a video of him comparing his enforcement philosophy to the Roman Empire's use of crucifixion highlighted the rift between energy producers and federal regulators." - Liberals should be proud of their tree hugging leaders..

I am borderline but lean more to the right. I say that only because as a consevative I am struck with awe by the guts it took to accomplish this mission. You do not have to fully agree with all policy decisions to acknowledge sincerely that President Obama did a great thing that day. I agree with the Vice President Bidens remark, "the man deserves a direct answer" and while our Navy Seals deserve full accolades for risking their lives to complete this mission, President Obama took an enormous risk to approve the mission and ultimately deliver a message that the US and our enemies will not soon forget. America answered Bin Laden in full for his crimes against our people and I thank Obama for the courage it took to make that decision. It is wrong to become so vehemently polarized by the political side you choose that you become blind. (both sides are guilty of this) There are policies Obama has enacted that I am fully against but that does not detract from his accomplishments and this operation, this risk IS an accomplishment. I will remember this day as long as I live, it meant alot to me. Pride in my country, in our military, pride in the bravery of our soldiers and YES, pride in our President and leadership. This mission could have gone horribly wrong and if it had, then Obama would have taken quite a lashing for escalating tensions by invading the sovereign country of Pakistan with our military. Yet despite many of his advisors urging restraint and caution, he took the step that me, as an American who sat for months watching the children and families mourn the murder of 9/11, can be enormously proud of. And conservative or not I can absolutely say, Thank you President Obama.

Finally, a man of wisdom. I agree that Obama can boast on his decision of taking Bin Laden while the Republicans refused to acknowledge the risk he took for doing so. And they call Obama a weak Presidnet. Is it jealousy? Sour grapes? This party even claimed they will get Bin Laden dead or alive. Did they? Is it worth 8 years and thrillions of dollars of the tax payer's money for a failed administration? What did they have to show for in 8 years? And they have the nerve to say " Go back to the failed administration that caused the dawnfall of the American Economy.?" The American people must be insane to beleve that.

Well said. I am a conservative Democrat, however supported in the past any President in office, regardless of politcal party, especially during War. That's called being a true American last time I checked. Many people need to realize this is our country, where most want to enjoy, live, and experience what we have. I wonder if the folks on this forum fly their flags on the days we should, to recognize how our country has evolved. On 9/11, we as a nation were one. Too bad it was short lived.....

Yea, that was my second most memorable photo of GWB! And that pitcher, I mean that Iraqi guy who threw those shoes at GWB had the best curve ball I had ever seen, he could have become a short reliever for the Texas Rangers!

May 1, 2012 at 3:00 pm |

Blah blah the wheel's off your trailer

No, Bush's signature photo would be he standing on the rubble at ground zero and saying these people who did this will pay! Only to say a few years later, he wasn't interested in finding OBL! Wavering coward! What rightwing morons!

I have to laugh at conservatives who say this mission was Obama's only accomplishment! Let me say that if this was Obama's only accomplishment, then thank God he didn't consult the republicans about this very secretive and delicate mission in advance because if he did, rest assure the republican would have tipped off the Pakistan government, compromising the mission and jeopardizing the lives of our SEALS! Good thinking in keeping the republicans at bay President Obama!

May 1, 2012 at 3:28 pm |

Blah blah the wheel's off your trailer

After two years of planning, justling and collaborating with intelligence sources, our military, the CIA and the Pentagon, our navy SEALS were able to execute this very complex and dangerpus mission! However, Mitt Romney was about to undo this mission in a hearteat when he said if he was presdient, he would have gone about the mission differently! Perhaps he would have done like GWB, giving OBL a slap on the wrist while continuing to give him save haven in Pakistan! Mitt Romney is the kind of guy who would be a coach in the super bowl and after his field goal kicker kicks a 40 yarder to win the big game, Mitt calls a time out and decides to re-kick the ball at the 50 yard line! What an idiot!

The republicans have just one problem with this. It makes Obama look good and there is NOTHING they can say against it. It is driving them crazy. All they are left with is whining that it is unfair to use something they cannot counter....

It was a great moment in American history. A very gutsy decision when not many people were willing to back the president and everyone of his opponents on the far-right would have hammered him for it if things go wrong. He still made the call and the Seals executed it.

Gitmo is a recruiting tool for Muslim extremist. Showing Bin Laden's dead photo will be a recruiting tool for Muslim extremist. That is according to Obama. Isn't bragging about killing Osama a recruiting tool for the Muslim extremist

No, I call it another tool to use for reelection. In addition, remember during the 04 campaign when Dick Cheney, that great statesman, said the US would get "hit again" if Kerry were elected? The same ones that take this country to war, for nothing, will do anything to remain in power. Sorry, but intelligence and tact count these days.

Is this headline for real? Romney disappointed ? Bin Laudin was shot and killed!!!! One of America's main terroists was taken out and he is disappointed because this wasn't in the actual war room?? Can grown men get any pettier? I am sickened by what they are calling politics. When are we going to set a list of grown up rules that they can use? I am so tired of lived in a high tech country run by people who act like 2 and 3 year olds! It doesn't matter to me if they gathered in the laundry room, the mission was accomplished! Back off, Romney.

This is ridiculous. No one can just see the story for what it is: a portrait of the higher echelons of the executive government and national security observing an extremely important operation in this country's history. Everyone has to get so partisan about everything. This is a small part of a larger story that has engulfed America since February 26, 1993. For almost 20 years, under three different presidents from two different political parties. Sure Obama can use this on his campaign trail, and Romney can attack him for it. But let us not forget that this bin Laden's death was going to be a unifying moment no matter who was in office. Instead everyone decides to post about THIER political opinion and not about the story itself. This is why I listen to NPR, because intelligent and reasonable people comment, not internet phonies.

I am with you. I can't believe that for day two, the news media continues the barrage of reports by pundits from both sides. I think that the President has made less of this than the media. Our 24 hour a day media organizations tend to blow things out of proportion on days when not much is happening. It makes both sides look petty.

I like NPR too. Some may not, but they usually present a less political view than some news organization.

You do know that you make hypothetical accusations and then believe them to be the truth, don't you? Do you know how stup1d you are for doing that, and how you are so pridefully ignorant because of that attitude? Shhhhh adults who think critically are talking.

Disrespecting, deriding and disparaging current and former Presidents say a lot about each of you posters who do so. Did you make fun of kids on the playground, too? Or were you the one who was made fun of. Respect seems to be a lost value for so many of you.

You said it, clearly. I can not believe the level of disrespect for the current and past Presidents. It is so sad. Whenever I read some of these statements, it makes me think of an old college professor that I had, he said that you should pay close attention to the people who disagree with you because you learn more from them than from those that share your views.

this was most likely in a room about 30 feet by 30 feet with walls shrinking it to about 15 by 15 to omit the possibility of listening devices. and it was prolly one of those TV's like in highschool that is on a cart with a VCR that just gets rolled around from classroom to classroom lol

My son left yesterday for Afghanistan. He and his soldiers are facing a very dangerous mission. It's time the GOP warmongers started thinking about someone, anything, other than the green in their wallets.

According to the photos of each one of them it was NOT a pleasant experience! Murdering an unarmed enemy is never a joy to behold! The man should have been captured and made a prisoner and tried and made an example of and not murdered. The Geneva Convention certainly did not apply here! The man would have been INVALUABLE to us with information that could have ALREADY destroyed the al Qaeda! Our leaders screwed up again!

Except Bush failed and failed and failed to get Bin Laden, even when intelligence was given to him pleading for doing just that. You believe your own hypotheses like a fool. They are nothing more then hypotheses and yet you believe them whole-heartedly like the worthless liability you are to this country. YOU HAVE NO IDEA IF BUSH GIFT WRAPPED THIS OUR WOULD HAVE GOTTEN BIN LADEN–THERE IS NO WAY FOR YOU TO KNOW ID1OT.

May 1, 2012 at 2:24 pm |

christine

The only gift he gave was the wave goodbye as he slunk out of the White House and let a real man in.

Obama 2012

May 1, 2012 at 4:13 pm |

lsterne

Thank you, Bush? For what?
Years of unnecessary war (Iraq)?
Deliberately wrecking the budget? (Deficits don't count)
The worst economy since the great depression?
A Supreme Court that thinks Corporations are people?
I don't see a lot to thank GWB for in that list.

May 1, 2012 at 5:43 pm |

MarkinFL

So Bush fails to get anywhere near Bin Laden and THAT is gift wrapping?
I've seen some bad wrapping but a two year old could do better.

Everyone commenting on this article is so worried about claiming victory for their political party. Why is no one talking about how this entire thing was fundamentally WRONG? We have continually, since the beginning, been doing exactly what Bin Laden has wanted. Bin Laden has said himself that our "war on terror" is exactly the reaction from US policy makers he was looking for. The murder of Bin Laden was not a victory for the US, it was another victory for Al Qaeda!

9/11 was a victory for Al Qaeda. They won then, when our lives were turned upside down. When the Patriot Act was rushed thru, Dept of HS was created, and we now have TSS doing security clearances at airports before we go anywhere. Look at the damage that was done to US Muslim's? Collateral damage perhaps?
I fully condone taking out OBL and his leadership by whatever means necessary.

May 1, 2012 at 2:49 pm |

Ol' Yeller

Murder!?!? That was a military mission pure and simple. And if that gave the Terrosists what they wanted, then I'm sure we'd more than happy to give them some more of that. What helped the terrorists recruit was the fact that OBL could still poke and prod the US at any time he wished. The fact that no amount of torture and water boarding could get us anywhere, but it did create an endless number of recruits. When we got Ossama that really froze Al Queda in their tracks and the information we gathered continues to pay off.
I don't believe there is any downside to locating the enemy headquarters, gathering intel, putting together a workable plan of action (with a f@*ckin' exit strategy), execuctng said plan, and taking out the enemy leader.
War is Hell, plosure.

May 1, 2012 at 4:51 pm |

Give me a break!

If it had been Romney's, do you think for one minute that he wouldn't be touting this success every day for the rest of his life? he wouldn't limit it to anniversaries...it's be a regular thing. He needs to grow up and use his noggin.

Mitt Romney, as President what would you be doing when the phone rings at 3:00am? Well, let me see...Well, I'll be throwing a wild and lavish bash for all my millionaire and billionaire friends! President Obama, what will you be doing when the phone rings at 3:00am? Well, I'll be killing Osama Bin Laden! Thank you President Obama! Obama/Biden 2012 by a landslide!

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CNN's Security Clearance examines national and global security, terrorism and intelligence, as well as the economic, military, political and diplomatic effects of it around the globe, with contributions from CNN's national security team in Washington and CNN journalists around the world.